DUD
(or lower) Nameless, later New X-Men and any of his hippy-dippy,
pseudo-mystical crap

1.-2.
Island #9, 12 (Image, 2016) ***½

Writers/Artists: various
I picked these up for the first two chapters of Aussie Fil Barlow’s remastered,
recoloured 80s classic Zooniverse.
They’re the clear highlight of both issues.

3.
SpiderIsland: The Avengers #1 (Marvel, 2011) ***½

Writer: Chris Yost/Artist:
Mike McKone

I bought this because it
had Squirrel Girl in it. The storyline – where everyone in New York somehow
gain Spider-Man’s powers – is pretty stupid. But this one-shot is kinda fun,
especially the fact that Hawkeye has Spidey powers and just keeps getting stuck
to everything.

My friend AW gave me
this issue because it had wrestling in it. It was nice to see D-Man again,
although I had no idea he’d been reinvented as a gay bear. Whatever. The
wrestling action is quite authentic – it’s a throwaway stand-alone issue, but I
enjoyed it.

5.
Watchdogs (Platinum Studios Comics,
2007) ***

Writer: Fred van Lente/Artist: Brian Churilla

This is a weird thing. I
picked it up at a Kings Comics sale for five bux, mainly for Churilla’s
Oeming-style art. A dumb white couple buy a house in a shitty crime-ridden
neighbourhood – haven’t these dudes heard of things like the internet and...oh,
I dunno RESEARCH before you buy a cheap home next door to a crack den? It’s not
a promising start to this graphic novel, but the story pick up when Sam joins
forces with fellow white neighbour Mark to clean up the streets as masked
vigilantes. As you do. The self-proclaimed Watchdogs brutally put a hurting on
the local (black) drug lord and his gang, but things turn nasty when Sam learns
that Mark is actually a neo-Nazi and Watchdogs is being franchised around the
country to other white supremacists. Sam is soon on the run – framed with the
crimes that he committed with Mark – and must join forces with the drug lord to
take down Mark and his neo-Nazi cronies before they blow up half of New York.
It’s all a bit Fight Club – and
politically more than a tad dodgy – and, in the end, doesn’t quite work as a
yarn. But, hey! It only cost me five bux.

- originally published
in BillyThe Kid’s Old Timey Oddities And The Orm Of Loch Ness #1-4 (Dark
Horse, 2012-13)

Writers: Eric Powell and
Kyle Hotz/Artist: Kyle Hotz

16.-24.
Jack Staff Vol. 4: Rocky Realities
(Image, 2009) ****

- originally published
in Jack Staff #13-20 and Jack Staff Special #1 (Image, 2007-09)

Writer/Artist: Paul
Grist

I thought about NOT
buying this trade, then decided to go for it because it was on special for only
$10 from Kings (www.kingscomics.com).
I have most of these issues at home, but have never got around to reading them
because (a) I was missing a few issues in this final run, and (b) reading Jack Staff an issue at a time was a
uniquely frustrating experience.

Done as a homage to the
UK weekly comics that I collected as a child (Eagle, Battle, Action, Valiant
and Lion, Hurricane, etc), Grist weaved a complicated tale around a group of
super-powered identities including Union Jack-style masked hero Jack Staff,
Becky Murdock Vampire Reporter, The Claw, Inspector Maveryk and so forth (along
with loving nods to classic British TV sitcoms such as Steptoe And Son and Dad’s
Army).

He would leap from one
character to another every few pages (similar to the 2-or3-pagers that filled
the weekly anthologies), but they all kinda linked up together to make a
cohesive comic. Or that was Grist’s plan. A diabolical publishing schedule –
there was literally a YEAR between #13 and #14 – plus his ambitious
storytelling technique only led to confusion, poor sales and, ultimately, the
demise of Jack Staff. Reading the
last nine issues in one hit made the experience a little easier, but not much.
I had to keep jumping back and forth to work out which characters were which
and how they connected to the others, but once I committed myself, Rocky
Realities was a challenging-but-worthwhile read. It’s a pity that Grist has
seemingly abandoned Jack Staff – it would probably work way better as an online
comic.

25.
Eightball #7 (Fantagraphics, 1993)
****

Writer/Artist: Daniel
Clowes

I think I might already
have this issue somewhere in my spare room, but I haven’t read the issue in
more than 20 years, so it’s basically brand-new to me again. The usual
depressing Clowes brilliance.

26-29.
Black Science Vol. 5: True Atonement
(Image, 2016) ****½

- originally published
in Black Science #22-25 (Image, 2016)

Writer: Rick
Remender/Artist: Matteo Scalera

I nearly gave up on this
series, but I’m so glad I didn’t. The last two arcs have really picked up the
pace, even though the title is fucking bleak right now, but I expect things to
get better come the next arc. I mean it has to, surely?

30.-34.
Deadly Class Vol. 4: Die For Me
(Image, 2016) *****

- originally published
in Deadly Class #17-21 (Image, 2016)

Writer: Rick
Remender/Artist: Wes Craig

Speaking of bleak, this
series is about as dark as it comes. I mean, I’m not sure how Remender can keep
the series going when the three main characters FUCKING DIED in the final issue
of this arc. High school sucks at the best of times, but when it’s a school of
assassins and the only way to graduate is to kill the non-affiliated freaks and
geeks, it’s MURDER. Just love Deadly Class – top-notch art and storytelling.
I’m genuinely looking forward to finding out where Remender goes from here.

I’ve mainly kept clear
of Valiant since its recent rebirth, but my mate AW passed this comic onto me
and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a gentle tale of an
overweight superhero trying to maintain her secret identity in a new city while
battling her arch-nemesis (who turns out to be a stud movie star). I liked the
fact that Faith is fat, but it’s not an issue to her or anyone else, it’s just
how she is. Anyway, I dug this first issue way more than I expected and I may
have to pick up the first trade when it comes out.

36.
Fiction Illustrated: Chandler (Byron
Preiss, 1977) ***¼

Writer/Artist: Jim Steranko

This graphic novel is
legendary and I had a hard time tracking it down. But having read Chandler, I found it to be a mediocre,
sub-Dashiell Hammett short story about a down-on-his-luck private detective
hired by a man to find the person who killed him (by giving him a slow-acting
poison). The ending is telegraphed. It’s meant to be cynical, but comes off as
clichéd. Steranko’s illustrations accompanying the text are mainly perfunctory
although a few are great. The poor quality of the printing on this once-cheap
paperback novel doesn’t help matters. Still, it’s one of the first graphic
novels and I’m glad to have it in my collection, even though it’s really not
that good.

37.-41.
Velvet Vol. 3: The Man Who Stole The
World (Image, 2016) *****

I got rid of all my old
Buffys in a massive clean-up earlier this year, but Helen found this trade for
50 cents in a library book sale. Reading it in one hit made me realise why I
loved the series so much. Gage is a fantastic writer who perfectly captures
Joss Whedon’s take on the Scooby Gang – I’m really not sure why I gave up on Buffy. Ah well.

P.S. The cameo
three-pager by Corben is exquisite, too.

47.-53.
Jessica Jones: Avenger (Marvel, 2016)
****¼

- originally published
in New Avengers #38 and 47, New Avengers Annual #3, New Avengers (2nd series) #8 and 31, WhatIf
Jessica Jones Had Joined the Avengers?, and material from Jessica Jones NYCC Comic #1 Amazing Spider-Man #601 and Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration (Marvel,
2008-14).

I finally read the end
of this series after several years’ delay. Scored it for $15 at a Kings Comics
sale. It took me a bit to suss out all the characters, but it was fun to read
the end of this series in one hit. The last issue ending is a bit lame, but the
rest of the trade is pretty damn terrific.

64.
A.D. After Death Book One (Image,
2016) *****

Writer: Scott
Snyder/Artist: Jeff Lemire

One of the most
extraordinary, moving comics I’ve read in some time. Beautiful. I can’t wait to
read the next book.

65.-70.
Chronicles Of Wormwood (Avatar, 2007)
****¼

- originally published
in Chronicles Of Wormwood #1-6
(Avatar, 2007)

Writer: Garth
Ennis/Artist: Jacen Burrows

71.
Chronicles Of Wormwood: The Last Enemy (Avatar,
2007) ***¾

Writer: Garth
Ennis/Artist: Rob Steen

72.-76. Invader
Zim Vol. 3 (Oni Press, 2016) ****¼

- originally published in Invader Zim #11-15 (Oni Press, 2016)

XMAS HOLIDAY READING

77.
Big Fat Little Lit (Puffin Books,
2006) ****

- various selections
originally published in Little Lit
book series (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2000-03)

Jones and I were in a
second-hand bookshop in Adelaide during the Christmas holidays when I found
this amazing book. “Want me to buy it for you, Jones?” I asked. “No,” she
replied. So I bought it for myself. How could I resist a roster of literary and
artistic talent like the names I listed above? Anyway, it was a steal for $8
and a joy to read. And guess what? Jones enjoyed reading it, too. Some of the
stories scared her younger brother Dash, but you can’t have everything, I
guess.

78.
Hotspur Book For Boys 1985 (D.C.
Thomson & Co., 1984) **¾

Writers/Artists: unknown

This hardback annual of
the classic English weekly comic came out in the mid-80s but it could have been
published in the mid-60s – it’s very British and very old-fashioned. There are
two superhero strips that caught my eye – King
Cobra and, of greater interest to me, Spring-Heeled
Jack – but they’re pretty lame and the costumes are practically identical.
The rest of the strips are a mish-mash of action and sporting strips, all of
them featuring the curious English comic convention of alliterative titles:
Flying Fury (WW2 fighter pilot), Dim Dan (thick working class stiff),
One-Minute Murphy (a lazy soccer player who does nothing for 89 minutes, but is
a goal-kicking match-winner for 60 seconds), Medic Muldoon (WW2 soldier),
Handsome Harry (aspiring boxer), etc. The writing and B&W artwork is uninspired.
One oddball strip – Cast, Hook and Strike – is set in the Australian outback
and strives to be reasonably accurate with place names, flora and fauna, etc.
The only glaring problem is the unknown scripter’s belief that Australians use
the expression “Flaming Ada!” all the time. Weird.

79.
The Avengers #14 (Newton, 1976) **

- originally published
in The Avengers #18 (Marvel, 1965)
and Tales Of Suspense #66 (Marvel,
1965)